Mattie Barbier is an LA-based musician and sonic researcher focused on experimental intonation, latent acoustic environments, and the physicality of their instrument. Their playing has been described by the LA Times as “intense, brilliant, virtuosic growling,” by The Wire as “exploring the nooks of instrumental tone far beyond the reach of most mortals,” and by The New Yorker as a “diabolically inventive trombonist-composer.”
Barbier collaborates with artists such as Weston Olencki, Ellen Arkbro, Clara Iannotta, Sarah Davachi, Michelle Lou, Wolfgang von Schweinitz, Jacob Kirkegaard, and Katherine Young. They have premiered works by George Lewis, Catherine Lamb, Liza Lim, Lester St. Louis, Kevin Drumm, Kaori Suzuki, Raven Chacon, Nate Wooley, and even British pop icon Scott Walker. As a soloist, they’ve performed with the Helsinki Philharmonic, SWR Symphonieorchester, and Wild Up.
A member of RAGE Thormbones, Wild Up, echoi, Diapason, and an active soloist and improviser on low brass and bagpipes, Barbier teaches at CalArts. They have created and presented work for the Museum of Jurassic Technology, Getty Center and Villa, Monday Evening Concerts, Roulette, San Francisco Exploratorium, Indexical, RedCat, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and others, including a collaboration with holographer Tristan Duke. Festival appearances include Borealis (NO), Darmstadt and Donaueschinger (DE), Musica Nova Helsinki (FI), Maerzmusik (DE), Ojai Music Festival, and more.
Barbier has held guest residencies at institutions including Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, NYU, UCSD, and University of Chicago. Their recordings appear on labels such as Sofa Music, Dinzu Artifacts, Carrier, Populist, Mode, Hat Hut, New Focus, Kairos, and Domino.